Kinvara – 1920

Village invaded
On Sunday night Kinvara was invaded by a crowd from Kiltartan and Ardrahan returning from the Belharbour sports who kicked up a noise that the people were in fear and terror of their lives all night. The crowd made a sweep on a Connemara hooker that was lying at the quay and commanded the skipper, with a loud shout of “Hands up,” to hand over a jar of poteen which he had in the boat. On getting it they carried it off in triumph. After imbibing a bit too freely of the contents, a row arose over the division of the spoils and the jar was smashed to atoms.
The owner of the boat took a bicycle from the fellow who captured the poteen and in throwing the machine into the boat he missed the mark and it fell into the tide. The owner of the bike and his confreres cycled to Duras to intercept the boatman “homeward bound,” and after chartering a small boat they were informed that the bike had been thrown into the sea at Kinvara.
They returned to Kinvara and kept shouting and singing at intervals until seven or eight pm. One or two of the party took possession of a ladder and went on the roof of a thatched house, and with lighted candles threatened to set it on fire. Another batch of them threw cars and everything they could lay hands on into the tide and did a lot of damage, while broken bicycles were found on every road.